On July 9, the Golden State Warriors’ recent guard addition, Chris Paul, addressed the media while attending NBA Summer League. Among a flurry of questions, Paul was asked whether he’s discussed his potential role next season with Steve Kerr.
“I don’t know what the situation is going to be yet; you know what I mean? So I think that’ll be for us to figure out once we get going,” Paul said. “It’ll be a conversation for us when camp starts or whatnot. But me and Steve have talked or whatnot, but that ain’t something that you’d be like, ‘what up, man Are you starting or you coming off the bench?’ You know what I mean? So I think we’ll figure all that stuff out in camp.”
Throughout his career, Paul has been a starting guard in the NBA. Even last season, at age 37, the veteran guard was the Phoenix Suns’ primary ball-handler when healthy. However, the Warriors already have their starting back-court in place with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.
There’s been no discussion between Chris Paul and Steve Kerr about Paul coming off the bench. “It’ll be a conversation when camp starts. Me and Steve have talked, but that ain’t something where it’s, ‘What up, man? You starting or coming off the bench.” pic.twitter.com/JYSO9hcHqE
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) July 10, 2023
Finding a way to incorporate Paul into the starting lineup would mean that the Warriors would be playing incredibly small throughout the season.
Instead, Golden State would likely benefit from asking Paul to operate as their sixth man, where he could help stabilize the second unit and provide a significant scoring and playmaking punch in a reduced role.
After trading away Jordan Poole to acquire Paul, the spotlight will be on the Warriors to make the move work. Hopefully, Kerr can find a solution that keeps everybody happy and on the same page, so the Warriors can get off to a better start than they did last season.
